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Talk:ROAD TO MISS USA 2018/@comment-26840558-20180105230026
I'm gonna do my first Top 16 prediction hehe. All very tentative because we're still missing like eight or something states, but oh well. (Alphabetical order) *''Alabama: Alabama is probably one of the strongest sashes at modern Miss USA, so it's no surprise they sent another great delegate. After last year's disaster, I'm sure the state directors want to place again, and are gonna be preparing Hannah a lot for Miss USA. Judging from interviews and her crowning moment, Hannah definitely has a great and bubbly personality (which was 90% of Alabama's success in 2016 I'd say), so I really think she's a shoe-in for semifinals.'' *''Arkansas: Arkansas is in my opinion one of the most beautiful girls competing this year. She looks great in every picture, and her jet black hair but bright blue eyes will probably distinguish her from a sea of blondes and brunettes. Arkansas isn't a particularly strong sash to have, but I really think Lauren is one of the best delegates Arkansas has sent recently. While she has facial beauty down, I need to see how strong her communication skills are, and what her backstory is (which is something super important in WME/IMG Miss USA).'' *''California: California is another really strong sash and their delegates to well almost every year. While they haven't had a winner since 2011, I really think this could be their year. Kelley is already somewhat of a celebrity in the U.S. (she competed in Miss America a few years ago and her performance in the talent competition went viral, so she was on talk shows and became very talked about), and she's a 6'2 blonde stunner. After crowning the military woman and the fake scientist, I think WME/IMG might be very eager to crown Nurse Kelley (her talent was a monologue about the difficulties and rewards of being a nurse). Unlike the last two winners, I actually think she has the beauty to win without her unique backstory though.'' *''District of Columbia: After winning back-to-back crowns and becoming one of the most successful sashes in the competition, D.C. is definitely eager to do well again. Bryce is hands-down the most facially beautiful of the past three Miss District of Columbia USA winners, but I think we all know that Deshauna and Kára didn't win for their beauty – they won for their backstories, and I don't know if Bryce really has one. Like Lauren, Bryce will no doubt make it based off of her looks, but I need to see her communication skills (I watched her state pageant and her final answer was the worst of the top five in my opinion) improve.'' *''Florida: Probably the big favorite to win the crown, but I really don't see it as much as everyone else does in the community. She's obviously beautiful, but I think I see her more as a fashion model than a beauty queen. She certainly has a lot of experience in pageantry, representing Puerto Rico at Miss World 2014. However, she completely flopped at Miss World and didn't even make the first cut. While I agree Génesis is more of a Miss Universe girl than a Miss World girl, I don't know if she can thrive in WME/IMG Miss USA, although she would be an obvious winner in Trump Miss USA. I think that her biggest strength could be her Puerto Rican heritage. She's been volunteering in Puerto Rico as part of the hurricane recovery, and if she milks that a lot it could help her. I remember Miss France at Miss Universe 2015 milked the Paris terrorist attacks a lot because she was at the arena that got hit during one of the attacks, and it probably helped her success a lot. Sometimes good comes out of tragedy.'' *''Georgia: Georgia is another delegate that is talked about a lot but I just don't really like. I think she has a good chance at making the semifinals because she has a strong sash and is obviously getting good training, but I just don't find her to be beautiful, she comes across as kinda manly to me. Also the fact that she only immigrated to the United States a few years ago probably won't go over well in Trump-era America. Personally, I think she is using Miss USA to gain publicity in her native Colombia, as she's already garnered a lot of attention there. I say go compete in Miss Colombia, because you'll probably be much successful there anyways.'' *''Hawaii: Julianne confuses me because in some pictures I'm like wow she is so gorgeous, and some I'm just like what...? However, Hawaii is a powerhouse sash so she obviously is getting great training and has a lot of pageantry experience under her belt. If she does her styling right she could easily make it far, but I don't think she can go all the way. Hawaii hit their peak with Chelsea Hardin (I'm still upset she didn't win), and it's gonna take an absolute stunner to top Chelsea. However, I do think Julianne has strong communication skills which could get her farther.'' *''Louisiana: Louisiana has been getting a lot of attention, and while I definitely think she's a pretty girl, I just don't see her as a Miss USA. However, I think she'll definitely be able to make the first cut. Being a news anchor, she clearly has strong speaking skills and is going to be able to have a great interview. I just don't know if she'll be able to make it farther than swimsuit since in all honesty, I think there are stronger delegates. I like her, but I just don't like her enough.'' *''Maryland: Of course I have my redhead bias, but I really do like Maryland a lot. Maryland is a weird state because when they send black girls, they go straight to Top 5, but when they send white girls, they flop. Brittinay is obviously a white girl, but there's something different about her. She has a great story of overcoming sexual assault which WME/IMG are definitely going to respond well to, and her hair color is definitely an advantage. If you look back at the last few Miss USA competitions, whenever there are redheads competing at least one of them will make the first cut. Typically there's only one redhead (as was the case in 2016), and she always makes the cut. If there's two, then one of them will make the cut. It's seriously a huge advantage and I think Hannah Lopa knew that, which is why she dyed her hair red prior to the competition last year (and look at that she made the cut). So I'm definitely looking out for Maryland.'' *''Mississippi: Mississippi is a girl no one is paying much attention to, but I think deserves more attention. Mississippi is a very weak sash, which is odd considering the state's closest friends Alabama and Georgia have powerhouse sashes. They always send typical blonde-haired blue-eyed southern belles, but this year is different. Laine is one of the most exotic delegates I've ever seen Mississippi send. I don't know her exact ethnic origin, but her name has an Arabic sound, especially odd for Mississippi. Some pictures don't do her justice, but in others she looks so gorgeous and queenly. However, Mississippi is a very weak sash so she probably isn't getting the training that she needs, but I'd still look out for her as a surprise placement.'' *''New Jersey: New Jersey is slowly becoming a strong contender in Miss USA. For the longest time they were irrelevant, sending girls no one thought twice about, but Chhavi placing 1st runner-up (and in many people's eyes – also the deserving winner) has drawn new attention to New Jersey. Alexa has a fascinating look, and an interesting story, so I think she's definitely someone to look out for.'' *''Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania isn't really a state known for sending consistent stunners, but I'm really impressed with them this year. Olivia is clearly a talented model, and while sometimes models can translate easily into beauty queens, sometimes they can't at all and flop very hard. I don't see Olivia having a problem transitioning. She looked amazing at her state pageant, and her styling was so unique compared to the average beauty queen. In addition to her unique natural looks, a unique styling can push her over the edge and she can actually be a competitor for the crown. Also, it doesn't hurt that she shares a first name with two of the best Miss USAs of the modern-era.'' *''Rhode Island: Rhode Island is known for taking pageant newcomers and turning them into queens. They are the only state to produce a Miss Universe winner in the 21st-century, and they did that with Olivia Culpo, a complete newcomer to the pageant world. Three years later they brought Anea Garcia, another newcomer to pageantry, to place Top 5 at Miss USA and later win Miss Grand International. For such a small state, they really know how to prepare their girls. Daescia definitely comes off as inexperienced in pageantry, but she has a lot of potential and if any state could turn her into a queen, it's Rhode Island.'' *''Tennessee: Right now, Tennessee is my winner. She has such a queenly look to her, which I think is hard to come across. In Miss USA there are pretty girls every year, many drop-dead gorgeous girls, but only queenly girls will end up being declared a winner. I think that her story of her mother representing Tennessee at Miss USA in the 1980s (and being a semifinalist) will also help her a lot as it's a cute, heartwarming story. Right now, in my opinion, she's the one to beat.'' *''Virginia: Virginia is another one being heavily hyped up by the pageant community that I just can't get behind. In my opinion, she just doesn't have a very pretty face. However, I can admit that she has great communication skills. If I'm not mistaken, I think she works in broadcast journalism which has no doubt contributed to her speaking skills. I think she'll be able to kill her interview, and since she has a strong sash, that should get her past the first cut alone. If she makes it far enough to get to the final question, maybe she could actually win.'' *''Washington: Washington is a gorgeous icy blonde statuesque beauty. If this was Trump-era Miss USA, I think she would be a shoe-in for Top 5. However, while her beauty is obvious I don't know if she has the substance to make far, as with WME/IMG you need more than just a pretty face to make it far. If she manages to develop great communication skills and has a good interview, I definitely see her doing well.'' COMMENTS ON OTHER DELEGATES: *''Maine: Marina decided to compete in Miss Maine USA two years too late. She is a soldier in the United States Armed Forces, and likely was inspired to take part after seeing Deshauna win. As being a soldier is likely going to be her selling point, I really think she chances are over. They literally crowned a soldier two years ago, and it was Deshauna's main talking point. Her final question was literally about women in the military, and she was constantly introduced as the "first Miss USA who's an active member of the U.S. military". Unless Marina finds a new schtick, I think she's dead in the water.'' *''Oregon: Oregon is definitely one of the most beautiful titleholders this year, however I find her beauty to be very plastic and superficial. She comes across as just a pretty, rich girl, and while that archetype may have found a lot of success in Trump-era Miss USA, they need to have more than that to well now. I always reference Lauren York (Miss Nevada USA 2017), who would've easily destroyed the competition in Trump-era Miss USA, but she had nothing more to offer than being a pretty model, so she didn't even make the first cut. Unless Toneata finds some depth, I don't see her making it far.'' *''South Carolina: South Carolina is a very strong sash, so I think everyone expects Tori to do well, but then again everyone also expects her to flop. Tori was first runner-up (I think) at Miss Teen USA like five years ago or so, and she really still looks like a teenager. Ex-teen titleholders are very hit or miss at Miss USA, sometimes you get girls like Alyssa Campanella who go on to do amazing (and win in Alyssa's case), and then sometimes you get girls like Katie Coble who flop completely. The biggest problem is a lot of times teen titleholders don't leave enough time between their teen pageant and their Miss pageant, so they still look like teenagers. This is Tori's problem. She still looks like a teenager. She will definitely receive a lot of training as she's South Carolinian, but I don't know if I really see her doing well, or even making the first cut at all.'' *''South Dakota: South Dakota is another one that I think suffers from "pretty girl syndromes". South Dakota is a very weak sash, so while she's likely one of their most physically attractive delegates ever, I haven't really heard anything about her that'll set her apart from other candidates.'' Of the states remaining, I think we have the potential to get new frontrunners from: '''Nevada', New York, and Texas.''